Gleaming and chiseled, Channing Tatum looms extra-luscious in "Magic Mike XXL." The stud is every inch the lean, mean, dancing machine in this stripper-flick sequel out Wednesday.

Getting camera- and thong-ready wasn't easy for the 35-year-old actor, says his personal trainer Arin Babaian. Tatum, like everyone, has days when he doesn't want to work out. He also has an Achilles heel when it comes to getting into peak condition.

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"It's his entire body," says Babaian. "Underneath the rocking body, Channing's the kid who loves to eat cake." And bread. "While we were training for his latest movie we'd go to dinner and the bread basket would come and I'd have to beat him to it."

Babaian doesn't mind. He's been Tatum's go-to fitness and nutrition guru since they collaborated on "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," released in 2013.

"He's called every time he's needed a trainer to get ready for a film after that," says Babaian, who's in his early 40s, and grew up on Long Island and now lives in Los Angeles.

Whether Tatum was preparing to play a Capitol cop in "White House Down," an undercover officer in "22 Jump Street," an Olympian wrestler in "Foxcatcher" or a genetically engineered hunk in "Jupiter Ascending," Babaian's regimens began by exercising the same body part: The brain.

Arin Babaian, who trains Channing Tatum for roles where he has to flex his pecs.

The same holds for his other A-list clients, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who Babaian trained for "Don Jon" and the upcoming "The Walk."

"When I'm working with somebody," says Babaian, "my first step is to talk about the character. The initial question remains the same: What is this guy supposed to look like?" That helps chart the exercises and diet. He describes Tatum's on-screen physique for "White House Down" as "action figure." For "Foxcatcher" he had to be "a monster" and was at his strongest.

For "Magic Mike XXL," Tatum "had to be flexible and agile," says the trainer. And look fantastic in a skimpy banana hammock — just like co-stars Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello.

"The movie's about a stripper. Channing's got to have a great body," Babaian says. "He's very dedicated. He's the hardest working person I know."

"Magic Mike XXL" filmed last autumn in Savannah, Ga. Before cameras rolled, Tatum had spent the entire summer conditioning and nurturing his sexy stripper bod in Vancouver, where his wife, Jenna Dewan Tatum, filmed her now-defunct series "Witches of East End."

Channing Tatum (second from r.) trained hard to get fit for “Magic Mike XXL,” in which he plays a male stripper. (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

"What we did to get ready for the movie was to turn every day into a healthy day," says Babaian. Lean chicken, healthy vegetables and nutrient-packed smoothies were diet mainstays. Besides hitting the home weight room and pool, Tatum and Babaian used the city like an outdoor gym. They ran, cycled, motorbiked and hiked, varying workouts to keep the regimen fun.

"Exercise should be a part of everyone's life — and fun," says Babaian. "And as we got closer to the shooting, we got more intense. You need to be strict when you're going to be wearing a thong."

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PRACTICAL "MAGIC": 4 EVERYDAY EXERCISES

Make these four basic workouts part of your exercise regimen, says celebrity trainer Arin Babaian. Here's some motivation: Picture yourself in a thong with 20 strangers looking at you.

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* Squats — They firm your booty and legs, which lots of guys ignore, says the trainer. That's a no-no.

* Pull-ups — "A lot of people have trouble with these, so start small. Do one, and if you can't do one, pull yourself as high as you can get."

* Shoulder presses — "Guys, especially, are obsessed with their chest — and that's important. But shoulders even more so. It gives a V-shape and proportion."